The establishment of protected areas has been one of the great achievements of the modern conservation movement. The Protected Planet Pavilion at the World Parks Congress (WPC) in Sydney highlighted its World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) that displays over 9,612 marine and 200,589 terrestrial areas under some protection designation. As shown by these large numbers, protected areas have become the mainstream conservation action and they are still proliferating around the world.

At the WPC, the governments of Gabon, Madagascar, South Africa and Russia among others, pledged to substantially increase the quantity and coverage of their national protected areas. One of thereasons for this proliferation, as explained by Dr. Nicholas Robinson of the Pace Law School to our International Organizations and Conferences class at Yale F&ES, is that the…

An indigenous leader walks around the land, stopping at sites used for hunting, collecting nuts, and worship. The points are recorded using a handheld GPS device and then transferred to a computer. These points are overlaid with other land uses in the territory, and a map is produced. The map shows where oil-drilling sites are located on the same place as the community’s ancient burial ground, and where pollution from the oil operations runs through their main water source. The community now has evidence to make a case against the company. This scene was a novelty just a few years ago, but today, it is a reality for many communities around the world.

Can technology and the way it lets us understand the world help indigenous and traditional communities…

Mining that transforms a rainforest into a moonscape, habitat into toxic tailing ponds. Oil exploration that leaves rivers polluted. Banks that finance these operations, cashing in while pristine areas bear the cost. For a long time, the private sector was the antagonist of conservation. Environmentalists only knew to confront corporations through protest and opposition.

That story has taken a slight turn, at least evidenced at the World Parks Congress. Businesses were explicitly recognized as an important stakeholder in preserving the integrity of protected areas. Several extractive sector representatives from Rio Tinto, Shell, BHP Biliton and DeBeers, to name a few, were actively engaged in the Congress, and discussions on the intersection of business and biodiversity were well-attended by those working in conservation. Rio Tinto had a strong presence…

There were many narratives at the World Parks Congress—conservation for justice, conservation for development, conservation for indigenous culture, conservation for ecosystem services, conservation to prevent climate collapse, conservation for all of the above—and so conservation becomes infinitely complicated, multifaceted, difficult to define. Of course conservation should be complicated because resource use, ownership, and access are complicated, as are balancing the needs/wants of the present and future. But all too often these complicated narratives blend and confound conservation methods (poverty reduction, education) with motivations and results (ten thousand hectares of forest unlogged or seas unfished). In promising to deliver everything, these conservation narratives lose authenticity.

Enter Harvey Locke, one of the many interesting individuals we had the opportunity to sit down with at the World Parks Congress. Harvey was a…

It’s tempting to think that once we declare a protected area protected, all the species, ecosystem services, and ecosystem functioning within the area will be conserved in perpetuity. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We cannot simply establish protected areas, draw lines on a map, and leave these areas alone. These areas, and the biodiversity within, are still subject to internal and external threats – threats like climate change, invasive species (like these flowers in Blue Mountains National Park), and poaching, to name a few. In order to ensure that protected areas will continue to function and conserve species well into the future, we need to also ensure that these areas are effectively managed. For this reason, one of the streams at the World Parks Congress was focused on…

At any conference, it’s always good to break up the daily routine of PowerPoints and panels with a bit of color, a bit of fun. After all, networking is one of the main goals of events like this week’s World Parks Congress (WPC), and many important connections have been made over drinks or meals intermixed within the usual conference schedule. Leading the way in this respect during the WPC has clearly been the WIN Pacific Pavilion, which is a collaboration between a number of Pacific organizations, including IUCN Oceania, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP), and ­­­­­the World Indigenous Network (WIN).

This pavilion, set in the middle of the congress’ main hall, has been described as the heart of the congress. Regularly you can pass by…

The vaka is the heart and the spirit of the community. Its sails sewed together and painted by hand. Its mast felled from the forest at the center of the island, its floorboards originated from the same stand. This canoe is guided by nature. Its double-hauls are pushed forward by the wind and its power comes by way of the sun. The lead navigator looks to the stars for direction, feeling the waves for confirmation on their bearing. When the winds are silent, the vaka bobs, listlessly. The crew throws fishing lines off the back reeling in tuna, finishing the first before throwing the line out again to catch the next. Each night, under the light of a billion stars, stories are told.

The World Parks Congress (WCP) in Sydney has come to an end with a closing ceremony that focused on several main themes: integrating indigenous communities into the decision making processes; recognizing park rangers for their work at the front line of conservation; involving the youth of the world to lead the future of parks, people and the planet; and learning the art of story telling to inspire larger audiences to support conservation. These messages are primary aspects of the Promise of Sydney, which is “the blueprint for a decade of change coming from the deliberations of this World Parks Congress.” It is now up to the delegates and the rest of the conservation community to go back to their countries and “save the world.”

The World Parks Congress (WPC) divided the categories of Parks and Protected Areas into 8 different ‘Streams’. Out of these, the most relevant to me was Stream 1: Reaching Conservation Goals. The aim of this stream was to demonstrate that a well-planned and effectively managed protected area system is essential to conservation.

On the final day, the session summarized all that had taken place over the week including key solutions that came out of the 53 sessions held. The concerns and threats that gained attention throughout the Congress and recommendations for addressing them were then contributed to a document titled “The Promise of Sydney”. This will be presented as a final report to governments, NGOs, businesses, extractive industries, and representatives from other sectors…

The event organizers, in their great wisdom, realized that even the most determined of us congress-goers can’t spend eight straight days in windowless rooms without going stir-crazy. Therefore, on Sunday we had the opportunity to take a field trip and see how local parks are addressing the global themes of the congress, from ‘reaching conservation goals’ to ‘inspiring a new generation.’ Options ranged from whale-watching to cruising up the Hawkesbury River to visiting the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. While presenters and panelists at the congress had already discussed and debated many methods and strategies for conservation, here was our opportunity to see them being implemented on the ground. Four of us opted for the trip titled ‘Think Global, Act Local,’…